Bringing the outside in has never been more tempting to
homeowners with the variety of options on the market today. Stay up-to-date on
the offerings with this product showcase that also provides key
selling points dealers can highlight for homeowners. Read More

Viwinco’s Tilt-n-Lock technology, standard on Cambridge, S-Series and OceanView hung windows, does away with traditional tilt latches in favor of a one-handed system. The company reports that eliminating the tilt latches makes cleaning the sash easier. Its reinforcement system runs the width of the sash and houses all elements that allow the window to tilt in into a singular unit, said to improve the structural and impact performance of the entire window system.

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The Talk

By Welton Hong, Ring Ring Marketing

Former U.S. President Herbert Hoover called competition "the incentive to progress." It might seem like a little less incentive would be handy when you're dealing with heavy local competition, but understanding your competitors is actually incredibly valuable. Competitive research is critical to success, particularly when it comes to search engine optimization.

Organic local search rankings might not be all they once were, but they're still important to local businesses—especially since Google's recent pay-per-click changes leaves fewer front-page spots for organic listings. Being on the first page requires strong search engine optimization that takes advantage of the highest ranking keywords for your area. If competitors are savvy
about jockeying for top spots, they're regularly adding content to target those keywords.

While you should always be looking to add and optimize content on your own, knowing when competitor websites change—and knowing exactly what changes—allows for a swift response. Here are a few ways to stay on top of what the competition is doing.

A site called ChangeDetection.com has been providing this type of service since 1999. To use the free service, you can provide a URL to track an email address to receive updates. Every time the site changes, you can see all additions and deletions, including when they occurred.

Another option is TrackedContent.com, which tracks daily changes in text, design or code. It also includes simple side-by-side comparison views. This is a paid service starting at $20 per month to track up to five URLs weekly.

The most comprehensive tool is Versionista.com, which offers a free version that allows users to monitor up to five URLs. Keep in mind, however, that any given site will have numerous different URLs. The paid version additionally provides hourly monitoring and tracks up to 20 URLs for $19 per month.

Are you keeping a close eye on what your local competition is doing online? Do you update your own website regularly to stay on top of local search results? Weigh in on this week’s poll, post a comment and/or send an email with your comments.

Do you keep up with your competitors' website changes?

Yes, but it's just something we eyeball occasionally.

Yes, and we do so through a monitoring service.

No, but it's something we'll consider instituting.

No, and it's not a priority for us right now.

Looking at your "all-star" employees that you wish you could duplicate, how much industry experience did they have before they started with your company?
While the majority of respondents to last week’s poll reported that their all-stars had more than 10 years of experience, over 30 percent reported their ace employees had no experience at all. Read the Full Results